"SumSumSummatime"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

I was happy to take time out today for strawberries and getting loose. Also I was so greatly inspired by Carol Marine's strawberries - she's one of my favorite painters.

"The Blues"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

I recently joined a gallery in Kirkland, Washington (state) - the Howard/Mandville Gallery. I think it'll be a great fit for me - I'm particularly proud to be amongst some of my personal favorite painters - Ken Auster, Pam Ingalls & Mark Lague. This new painting will be added to their gallery in mid-July, with others following, so if you're in the area, please stop in and see some of my work. Kirkland is about 15 minutes from Seattle and situated on Lake Washington. It sounds like a beautiful place, I can't wait to visit it one day.

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"de Old"

8 x 10"

oil on masonite

sold

I worked on a painting yesterday in which, in about the 5th hour into it, I picked up a rag and wiped it off my board. It was as if I had no say in it - my hand just did what it did. It would be like spending 5ish hours on making the best lasagna recipe, taking it out of the oven and pitching it in the garbage. Not a good day of painting.

Today was better, it always is. I remember watching this older gentleman in the de Young Museum - he scooted up to every single label of every painting and read them all. Funny thing is he hardly looked at the art. Perhaps he did that the last time he was at the museum.

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"Soft Focus"

9 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

I talked about how I avoid primary colors in a painting - and the same goes for pastels. It's probably the years and years of framing pastel-toned artwork at my shop - I think I have an aversion to it. Perhaps because pastels mean 'cute' in so many cases. I believe the trick is to grey down the pinks and blues and greens, at least for me to accept it. This new painting is a good example of that. The wall color I chose seemed so wrong at first, and then so right in the end. It seems to add to the soft, feminine quality of the woman and the Monet.

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"Primary Colors"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

I watched this fantastic PBS show last night called 'The Power of Art' - the first in this series featuring Van Gogh, highlighting his 'Wheatfield With Crows'. My God - what an incredible work of art. I woke up thinking about that painting and just had to paint it. 'Wheatfield With Crows' is, in a basic description, made up of primary colors - which is something I try to avoid in my own work. It's funny how I am so drawn to other artists' paintings with those blues, reds, yellows and greens - but I have hated anything I've done with those basic primary colors. I thought I'd put aside my apprehensions and give it another try - with the focus of the painting being Van Gogh's vivid pallette. I really enjoyed working on this piece.

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"Playing Hooky"

8 x 10"

oil on masonite

sold

As you may know, I've been working for a couple of months on paintings for the upcoming show - which I'm officially done as of today (yay!) and I needed to let loose for a change. It's done with a flat, wide brush and painted totally freehand - which is something I really, really enjoy.

"Sisters"

9 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

Okay - one more for the show. Being that the title of my exhibition is "The People I See", I must include these two sisters. They were pretty fantastic, as models, I must say. They stand beside Toulouse-Lautrec's haunting painting "At the Moulin Rouge", which hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago.

This new painting will be included in my July show at 16 Patton, in Asheville. If you can get to the gallery in July, please do so. Asheville's a great place to spend a couple of days and the opportunity for you to see these paintings in person would make me happy.

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"Pure Luck"

5 x 7"

oil on masonite

sold

After painting a variety of dogs for the upcoming show - it was time to paint a cat. My cat, Willy, who's usually a mass of black fur, except when he is bathed in sunshine.

"In the Company of Women"

9 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

And here's one more new pieces to add to the show - and I included one of my favorite paintings, John Singer Sargent's "Mrs. Fiske Warren and Her Daughter Rachel".

This new painting will be included in my July show at 16 Patton, in Asheville.

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More Dogs Rule

Well good - I set out to do a set of nine dog paintings for the show and I love all of them. The top dog is a little cutie I spotted in Decatur, on Memorial Day - and the one underneath is my happy dog Jack, who, as you can see, has recovered very well from his knee surgery. He's such a doll.

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both have sold

More Dogs Rule

Two more dogs to add to the set - the top dog, and he IS a top dog, is my Petey. The one under him is a little Yorkie I spotted on Michigan Avenue, who despite his size, was in total control of the walk.

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both have sold

More Dogs Rule

Three more dogs to add to the set - what fun these are to paint. The bassett hounds at the top were spotted in a park in Manhattan - the dachsund in the middle is the late and great "Dewey" who belonged to a good friend - and the red hound (don't know the breed) was spotted in Piedmont Park in Atlanta.

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all 3 have sold

"Alone"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

I'm happy to have squeezed in a small, daily painting tonight- I've been working on pieces for a show in July and it's all-consuming, to say the least.

This woman was enjoying some "me-time" on a Saturday morning on Oak Street Beach, in Chicago. I thought of doing a larger painting of her - so I've tried it out in this smaller format to get an idea of its impact. I'd love some feedback when you've got the time.

Dogs Rule

I started this REALLY fun series of dogs - I hope to do a grouping of nine for the July show. They're 6 x 6" and they're of all different pets - some I've seen out and about and a few that belong to friends or neighbors of mine. I'm a huge sucker for dogs, I always try to say hello and introduce myself. They make me happy.

The little guy on the top is "Chip", my neighbor's dog and the two on the bottom were spotted at an arts festival in Decatur, Georgia.

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both have sold

"The Last Days of Cezanne"

14 x 11"

oil on masonite

sold

Another view of the long line of people waiting to get into a special exhibition titled "Cezanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde", which took place at the Art Institute of Chicago. I loved painting this.

This new painting will be included in my July show at 16 Patton, in Asheville.

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"A Presence"

9 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

I see people like this woman and I think do they know how beautiful they are? How much presence they have in a room full of strangers? I really enjoyed painting this piece - mostly the woman's fantastic face and colorful clothing. She reminded me of Georgia O'Keeffe so much so, I accompanied the painting "Black Cross, New Mexico" beside her. Here's a closer view of the woman's face.

This new painting will be included in my July show at 16 Patton, in Asheville.

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"Patrons of the Avant-Garde"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

I'm going to tell you the truth here - I'd like to keep this painting. I think it's one of my all-time favorites. The space, the individuals, the quietness..... all of it. These patrons were standing in a long line, on the last day of the exhibition titled "Cezanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde", which took place in the Art Institute of Chicago. I included a couple of close-ups of the people, to show you how wonderfully unique we all are.

This new painting will be included in my July show at 16 Patton, in Asheville.

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"Central Parking"

16 x 8"

oil on masonite

sold

It's a good thing this was a holiday weekend because this painting took me all weekend. Admittedly between the swimming and eating and sleeping late. I'm an impatient painter if you don't know that about me - I want to start and finish in the same day or night. If I go to bed with a piece half done, I think about it and rework it in my head all night. Drives me nuts. But this weekend was the perfect time to attempt such a painting and I'm totally thrilled with the finished product. Hope you all had a good time off and I'll be back in a couple of days, after I catch up on some work.

This new painting will be included in my July show at 16 Patton, in Asheville. The scene is from New York City, a crowded bench in Central Park in October.

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"Pull Up a Chair"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

I want to wish everyone a fun holiday weekend - I'm hoping to take some time off and go to a local arts festival, eat hotdogs and apple pie and swim in my neighbor's pool. What a perfect plan.

I got a little painting in this afternoon - a young woman reading in a big chair in a Starbucks. I even made up a short movie of the process of painting this little piece - click here if you'd like to see it.

"Spit and Image"

9 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

This is one of those moments captured - where I wonder if I can pull it off and how would it come across as brush strokes. Such a fun painting to do. A kid laying under the reflective sculpture "Cloudgate", a major attraction in Chicago's Millennium Park.

This new painting will be included in my July show at 16 Patton, in Asheville.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Lots of Dots"

9 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

One more to wrap up my busy week - one of those perfect moments (I swear it really lined up this way) where mom and daughter and her stuffed elephant, all wearing polka dots, were zeroing in on Seurat's multitude of dots.

This new painting will be included in my July show at 16 Patton, in Asheville.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Three Amigos"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

I've had a long, pleasant day of painting - just finished up this new piece which will be included in my July show titled "The People I See". These three friends were chatting it up inside a Starbucks, on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

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"Curves"

11 x 14"

oil on masonite

sold

This is my newest painting, done for the July show in Asheville - I really, really love it. A young woman shares the room with Picasso's "Nude Under a Pine Tree", in the Art Institute of Chicago.

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Happy Friday all.

"Under Cover"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

Not only do I melt when I approach Lautrec's paintings - seeing this lovely woman standing there, admiring his Moulin Rouge pieces - her hat, the navy blue coat that created this wonderful form, her bare heels lit up by the light - all of it just took my breath away.

Now's a good time to explain my obsession with this subject - people inside of museums. I'm really more obsessed with the human form - especially how we stand, how we balance and how we dress. I view all people, all shapes and sizes, as perfect models. The backdrop of a bare wall provides the definition of the body. A work of art in the background can be more dominant than the figure - or it can be more vague and unremarkable. A lot of times I include works of art that mean a lot to me personally. It's fantastic joy for me to do these paintings for all of those reasons.

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"Bare Back"

6 x 6"

oil on masonite

sold

Of all the hundreds of photographs I came home with - some stand out immediately and I'm anxious to paint those first. This young lady is one of those. There is an awkward elegance about her, mostly, it's the strong light on her bare back that is striking to me.